Yet Henri makes a good point: Why shouldn’t cats govern? They’re often subject to castration without representation (ah, if only we could trust cats to use birth control responsibly), and while Henri realizes that we may never return to the ancient Egyptians’ level of cat worship, he thinks that a few seats in office would be nice.

What Henri doesn’t realize is that cats do rule. In fact, I just had to shoo the cat out of my office desk chair to sit down to write this. And instead of scampering off to let me work, he has insisted on sitting in my lap, clawing my thighs as he kneads and drools in contentment. But if I put him down on the floor, he’s sure to express is disapproval by pooping outside the litter box. Now that’s tyrannical!